You Might Need Somebody
by He Who Writes His Own Canon
Summary: AU season 2 (the bus crash never happened): Cassidy finds himself the object of affection from a new student whose presence at Neptune High will turn things upside down. Slash M/M Cassidy/OC. Yeah, I know it's a sucky summary, but I don't really know how to explain what's going to happen without spoiling it.
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N**_: Alright, so when I originally wrote _**Get Used to Me**_, there were two alternate first chapters to it that I had saved. This is one of them-and the one I've always liked the most.

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><p>Cassidy Casablancas sat to the side of his older brother Dick and the other 09ers during lunch. It was one of the regular—well, as regular as life in Neptune could get—days when he heard the very familiar sound of laughing jocks. Cassidy stood up and walked over where a mousy brown-haired boy duct-taped to the flagpole.<p>

"So, new kid, you understand who's better than you yet?" One of the jocks laughed.

"Yeah, and it ain't you," the boy shot back. "You're nothing. Just wait, in ten years, you're going to be washing my car."

"Oh, like this?" Another jock dumped a trashcan onto a secondhand blue Cadillac. "Nice and clean, isn't it?" The boy's eyes widened and he struggled to free himself, shouting obscenities at the jocks.

The bell rang, sending everyone inside; once the courtyard was deserted, Cassidy walked over to the boy and pulled out his switchblade to cut him down. The boy's eyes were downcast as he sat down and stared at his car.

"Fuck," he muttered. "I just got a new paint job."

"I'm sorry, dude," Cassidy said awkwardly.

"It's not your fault," the boy said. "Thanks for cutting me down, by the way. I'm Joel, Joel Richardson."

"Cassidy Casablancas, better known under the name I hate, which is Beaver, given to me by my father and older brother when I was young." Cassidy extended a hand, which Joel shook. Joel picked up his backpack and followed Cassidy inside. The two stood at Cassidy's locker and were talking when Joel felt an ominous presence and spun around to see the same group of guys who had duct-taped him to the flagpole.

"Hey, Beav, what are you doing with the new kid?" one of them asked. Joel looked at the floor, avoiding the gaze of the guy with the shaggy blonde hair. "Didn't you hear me when I told you to stay taped out there?" Joel nodded silently.

"Dick, what did he do?" Cassidy asked the boy.

"Beav, stay out of this. You're just going to get hurt," Dick said absently.

"He's a smart-mouthed little queer, that's what he did," another boy said. Cassidy looked at Joel, who was clutching his backpack and looking at the tile floor. Dick grabbed Joel and pinned him against the locker. "Who cut you down?" Joel remained silent. "I'll ask you again, who cut you down?"

"Dick, let him go." Cassidy tried to intervene, but the other two guys grabbed him and held him back.

"Little brother, I said stay out of it," Dick snapped, not looking at Cassidy. Joel swallowed and mumbled something. "What was that?"

"I didn't catch his name," he whispered. "But he's some ginger kid."

"Let's go," Dick ordered his buddies. "And next time I tell you to stay somewhere; you better fucking do it, understood?" Joel nodded and bent to pick up his backpack, but it was kicked down the hallway before he could grab it.

"I am so sorry about my brother," Cassidy apologized, running to grab Joel's backpack.

"No, I'm sorry he's your brother," Joel said, slinging it over his shoulder. He examined his schedule. "You know where room 237 is?" Cassidy nodded and led Joel down the hall.

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><p>"Ugh, I can't believe we have to read and analyze <em>Les Misérables<em>. For the love of God, we're only in the tenth grade!" Joel complained. Cassidy sat beside him in his Cadillac on the way to the Casablancas home. "Fifteen-hundred pages in three months, this is bullshit."

"How about we split it? You read seven-hundred-and-fifty pages and I read the other seven-fifty," Cassidy suggested. "And then we can get together and go over the whole thing."

"Or we could just watch the longest film adaptation," Joel remarked, pulling into the driveway. "Damn, whose Ferrari is that?"

"My stepmother's," Cassidy said, getting out of the car. "She's a gold-digging whore."

"With great taste in automobiles," Joel put in, slinging an arm around Cassidy and walking into the house.

"I'm home!" Cassidy dropped his bag on the floor. "Kendall, you here?"

"In here," a sultry voice called. Cassidy and Joel walked into the living room, where a tall, black-haired twenty-something woman was lying across a couch, her legs spread open.

"Oh God," Cassidy gagged.

"_Basic Instinct_, much?" Joel smirked.

"Joel, this is Kendall, my stepmother. Kendall, this is my friend Joel."

"Cute friend you have there," Kendall purred, licking her lips sensually. "You want to come over here and hand me my lotion?" Cassidy glanced at Joel, whose expression was unreadable; either he was going to burst into laughter or throw up. He cleared his throat and Cassidy could tell he was trying not to laugh.

"Okay, I'm going to put this out there right now. One, I'm gay; two, you look at least thirty-five; three, you're my friend's stepmom; and four, you have gray hair and eyebrow creases." Kendall touched her forehead and pulled out a large mirror, examining herself.

"G-gray hair?" she moaned. Cassidy snorted, trying to contain his giggles. Kendall ran upstairs and the boys could hear a crash.

"If anyone could make Kendall throw a fit _that_ fast, they're good in my book," Cassidy snickered. "We might as well go start reading or finding an accurate movie."

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><p>"Dude, Madison's tits <em>have<em> gotten bigger," Dick told Logan, who rolled his eyes in exasperation. It was the only thing Dick talked about on the way. Logan spotted Joel's car in the driveway.

"Hey, man, whose car is that? I saw the same one at school." Logan pointed it out and Dick looked over.

"That's the—Shit." Dick ran inside and upstairs, only to get nearly knocked over by Kendall, who was carrying a bowl of ice. "What the hell? Kendall, what's going on?"

"I'm old!" she wailed.

"Tell me something I don't know," Dick muttered.

"Your brother and his little friend are here somewhere. Tell them I'm not running a damn orphanage for poor children," she snapped, slamming her bedroom door. Dick and Logan went down the hall and opened Cassidy's door to find Cassidy on his laptop and Joel on the bed flipping through his book.

"What the hell is he doing here?" Dick demanded, glaring at his brother.

"It's an English assignment. Something way too advanced for your intellect, Dick, now go away," Cassidy replied, not bothering to turn around.

"Oh, look, it's Dumb and…" Joel started to say before he spotted Logan. "Hotter. Who is this handsome man?"

Cassidy spun around in his chair and saw Joel staring lustfully at Logan. "Joel, that's Logan," he introduced. "Logan, this is Joel."

"Told you I was attractive to both sexes," Logan smirked, looking back at Dick. "I'm straight, dude, but thanks."

"Every guy says they're straight, but it's not always entirely true," Joel reasoned.

"Whatever." Dick rolled his eyes. "Come on, Logan, let the homos have each other and I'll kick your ass at video games."

"Alright." Logan shot Joel a smile. "See you later." Joel blanched and the door closed. Joel stared at the door and Cassidy looked at him.

"Why would I not be surprised if you end up sleeping with half the school?" Cassidy shook his head.

"Because I'm sexy, that's why." Joel walked over to Cassidy and thrust his hips against the back of the chair.

"You perv," Cassidy scoffed.


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N**_: The following chapter contains a little M-rated material, but the story will still have a T rating.

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><p>"I found one of the movies," Joel said, looking up from his iPhone. "It's recent, but it's not very faithful to the book." He let out a huge sigh. "I'll read half." Cassidy turned in his revolving chair and found that Joel returned to his position, lying down and flipping through his book.<p>

"Can I ask you something, Joel?" The brunet looked up. "Are you... you know?"

"Am I what? Gay?" Cassidy nodded. "Yeah. I said it out loud like an hour ago. Got a problem with guys who like guys?"

"N-no, it's just... I was just wondering," Cassidy muttered, looking down at the floor. When he looked up again, Joel was standing in front of him.

"Let me guess, living in a house with an uncaring father, bipolar stepmother, and douchebag older brother hasn't let your libido run wild, huh?" Surprised by how spot-on Joel was, Cassidy silently nodded. "You ever been with a girl?"

"There was this girl last year," Cassidy whispered. "Every time we tried something, I got too nervous." Joel nodded in understanding. "I've never been with a guy, although I have thought about it."

"I think it's time to reach that college moment and experiment." Joel pulled Cassidy's T-shirt over his head. Cassidy crossed his arms over his chest, embarrassed of how scrawny he was. "Hey, I like boys with not a lot of muscle." Joel kissed Cassidy's neck and moved down his chest. Cassidy still felt hesitant but knew that Joel could easily overpower him, so he didn't complain.

Finally conjuring some bravery, he spoke up. "J-Joel?" Joel glanced up from his position unbuckling Cassidy's jeans. "I don't know about this."

"Look, if you don't want to do this, it's fine. You don't have to." Joel's voice was soft. "I'm not going to force you." He moved back to the bed and picked up his book. Cassidy bit his lip and walked over to Joel. "Ye—?" Joel was cut off by Cassidy's lips pressing to his own. When Cassidy pulled away, Joel was beaming. "Your lips are amazing. You ever kiss that girl?"

Cassidy shook his head. "That was my first kiss," he whispered. "I wanted my first kiss to be special and I knew she never really liked me like that. But you do, don't you?"

"I do." Joel nodded. "I like you a lot. Someone as beautiful as you doesn't deserve to live with people like your family."

"I don't want to have sex or anything, not yet." Cassidy hoped that Joel wouldn't hate him.

"We don't need to do anything," Joel said. "Honestly, I'd just rather lie here with you in my arms." Cassidy grinned and settled himself next to Joel, who placed a protective arm around him. "I'm not going to let anyone hurt you, I promise." Cassidy believed him.

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><p>Cassidy's eyes flickered open what he assumed was only an hour or two later. He glanced down at his watch and saw it. 11:47. He shot up and looked down to find Joel still snoring softly. "Joel?" He shook the short boy gently. "Joel, wake up." Joel groaned and sat up.<p>

"Wh-what is it? What time is it?" Joel rubbed his eyes.

"It's almost midnight," Cassidy replied. "Don't you need to get home?" Joel groaned and lay back down.

"Fuck that, I'm not going home," he murmured. "My dad's probably drunk and/or wasted by now and my mom—probably unconscious on the floor from either drinking or my dad hit her."

"Your dad hits your mom?" Cassidy looked at Joel, wide-eyed.

"I can't stop him when he gets shit-faced," he said. "Trust me, I've tried." Joel rolled up his left sleeve. Cassidy saw the countless blade marks; Joel was pointing to a large red circle on his bicep. "That's what he does when I fight back."

"Do you cut yourself?" Cassidy asked quietly. Joel simply averted his eyes and pulled his sleeve down. "Joel..."

"Please, I really don't want to talk about it," Joel whispered. "Can I stay here with you?"

"Of course," Cassidy smiled. Joel returned the smile and kissed Cassidy gently.

"Can we go back to sleep?" Joel tugged on Cassidy's shirt. The boy smiled and returned to his position next to Joel. "Night, Cassidy."

"Night, Joel."

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><p>The morning light shone through the shutters on Cassidy's window. Cassidy slowly opened his eyes and looked over at Joel, who was spread out; his hand still placed on Cassidy's chest. His eyes grazed Joel's slender frame and stopped at Joel's pants. Cassidy giggled and glanced up at Joel's face, which was unclear. He didn't know how Joel would react to what he was about to do, but unzipped Joel's pants and got an eyeful of Joel's erection.<p>

"Wow," he muttered. "He's huge. Guess it makes up for him being so small." Joel was still snoring as Cassidy touched his clothed hard-on. He'd always wondered about jacking off another guy, but contemplated doing it to someone who was asleep. Knowing that Joel did have feelings for him, Cassidy decided that he wouldn't mess with him and proceeded to undress from the previous day's clothes.

"Nice ass." Cassidy turned bright red and turned to see Joel propped up on one hand. "Did you try to have your way with me, Cassidy Casablancas? Is that why my pants are unzipped?"

"I-I..." Joel rolled off the bed and stood in front of Cassidy.

"If you wanted to have some fun, you could've just woken me. I wouldn't be upset." Joel stroked Cassidy's dick, which made the boy moan softly. Cassidy touched Joel's erection and blushed a little. "You never have to be nervous around me." Joel gently kissed Cassidy and pulled him closer.

"I really like you, Joel, and I don't want to mess that up like I do everything else," Cassidy whispered, looking down. Joel lifted his chin and kissed him again.

"You can't mess up anything that I already haven't. Don't worry, you're going to be safe with me."

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><p>Joel parked in the back of the parking lot and Cassidy followed him into the school. The two headed down the main corridor as people stopped to look at them.<p>

"Why are they looking at us?" Joel muttered, keeping his eyes forward and not stopping.

"I think they're just looking at you," Cassidy replied quietly.

"Shit." At the end of the hallway, he turned and everyone resumed what they were doing. "What did I do?" The next thing he felt was the cold metal of a nearby locker before crumpling to the floor.

"Joel! Are you okay?" Cassidy bent down to help him up.

"What the fuck was that for?" Joel took Cassidy's hand and stood up. He looked and saw the same group of jocks who tied him up the day before.

"Don't," Cassidy whispered, pulling on the boy's arm just as he started after his tormentors. "It's not worth it." Joel felt his eyes watering but quickly ran his sleeve over before anyone could notice. Cassidy, however, did. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Joel said shortly. "I'm fine. Let's get to class." He picked up his backpack and hitched it over his shoulder.

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><p>Cassidy sat beside Joel behind the quad. Joel was picking at the mystery meat on the lunch tray and ended up chucking it over the fence behind him. A couple guys in black leather jackets were smoking a few feet away.<p>

"What the hell are you doing over here, 09er?" One of them asked, blowing smoke in their direction. "Shouldn't you be with your bunch of rich pricks?"

"Hey, watch it," Joel snapped.

"Oh yeah," the guy smirked. "You're that new kid the jocks were hoisting up yesterday. I'm sure you've figured out all the kids in the 90909 neighborhood are spoiled little bitches." Joel stood up, fists clenched.

"You better shut your fucking mouth," he growled. Cassidy tugged on his shirt, but Joel ignored him.

"Or what? You gonna hit me?" The guy handed his cigarette to one of his two buddies. "Go ahead, do it." He opened his arms. Cassidy blinked and the next thing he saw was the jacketed boy lying on the ground, groaning and holding his bleeding nose; the others looking at Joel in astonishment; and Joel rubbing his knuckles.

"Beat it, now." The other two guys grabbed their friend and dragged him away. Joel straightened his shirt and leaned back against the wall.

"Wow." That was all Cassidy was able to get out at the moment.

"You're welcome." Joel cracked his knuckles and tousled Cassidy's hair. "I told you you'd be safe with me."


End file.
